Sanford Man Sentenced to More Than Six Years for Aiding and Abetting Commercial Robbery

Sanford Man Sentenced to More Than Six Years for Aiding and Abetting Commercial Robbery

ORLANDO, FL—Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon, II today sentenced Jacques Maddox (23, Sanford) to six years and six months in federal prison for aiding and abetting the attempted robbery of a Walgreens store in Orlando. A federal jury found Maddox guilty on July 9, 2014.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on the night of September 2, 2013, Maddox and his friend, Joe E. Clinton, went to the Walgreens store on South Kirkman Road. After surveilling the store for hours, Maddox and Clinton entered the store for the final time around 11:00 p.m. Maddox acted as a lookout near the center of the store, while Clinton forced the store manager inside the office at gunpoint. Clinton demanded that the manager open the store’s safe, threatening to shoot him if he failed to do so. When the manager refused to comply with Clinton’s demands, Clinton pistol whipped him, striking him several times in the head and shoulders. Clinton then ran out of the office, met up with Maddox in the middle of the store, and pulled his gun on other employees and store customers as he and Maddox fled the scene.

On March 24, 2014, Clinton pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the attempted robbery of the Walgreens on September 2, 2013, one count of robbery of a CVS store located at 1201 East Colonial Drive in Orlando on September 10, 2013, and two counts of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to those violent crimes. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the attempted robbery and robbery counts. For the firearms convictions, Clinton faces a combined mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years’ imprisonment, to run consecutively to any other prison term imposed. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 14, 2014.

This case was investigated by FBI, ATF, and the Orlando Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph M. Schuster.